News & Events

Lamar teams up with the Cincinnati American Heart Association, features user-generated photos from social media in photo-interactive digital out-of-home Heart Month campaign

Baton Rouge, LA – February 16, 2015 – Digital billboards are getting heart healthy in February, thanks to a new social media effort. Lamar Advertising Company (Nasdaq: LAMR) has partnered with the Cincinnati American Heart Association to celebrate Heart Awareness Month in an interactive way. The Heart Heroes campaign, which is running throughout the month of February, integrates social media and digital out-of-home to spread awareness about the importance of being heart healthy and to honor those who have been affected by heart-related illnesses.

People are encouraged to post photos of friends and family who have been affected with heart issues – otherwise known as “Heart Heroes” – on either the Lamar Advertising of Cincinnati or Cincinnati American Heart Association Facebook pages. From there, Lamar uses the technological capabilities of its digital network to display the user-generated photos and names from Facebook directly to digital billboards in Cincinnati. Webcam shots from the digital billboards are posted in a Heart Heroes album on the Lamar Advertising of Cincinnati Facebook page, so people can see their photos running on the billboards.

“This out-of-home campaign drives consumer interaction for Heart Awareness Month in a clever way on social media, and we love giving people the opportunity to share photos of their Heart Heroes on our digital billboards,” said Tom Fahey, Territory Manager of Lamar Advertising Company. “More importantly, we’re raising awareness for heart health. This is the third year that we have partnered with the Cincinnati American Heart Association, and we are thrilled to be in a position to help spread their important message to a mass audience in Cincinnati.”

The Heart Heroes’ photos are displayed on digital billboard space throughout Cincinnati donated by Lamar Advertising Company (above).Webcam shots from the digital billboards are posted in an album on the Lamar Advertising of Cincinnati Facebook page (above).

In addition to the digital billboard component, the campaign’s message is being spread heavily through social media: a search for #HeartHeroes, #HeartHealthy or #CincyAHA yields hundreds of results related to the campaign. The Lamar Advertising of Cincinnati Facebook page also increased its post reach by 3,108% since the campaign started in February, as compared to the previous period in January.

“Within a few days of announcing the campaign on social media, 80 photos were submitted on Facebook,” said Cindy Betsch, Social Media Manager and Artist for Lamar Advertising of Cincinnati. “Once people saw the digital billboards, the interaction on Facebook and campaign involvement skyrocketed. The combination of digital out-of-home and social media is powerful, and we are glad that we can put it to good use with the Cincinnati American Heart Association.”

About Lamar Advertising Company
Founded in 1902, Lamar Advertising Company (Nasdaq: LAMR) is one of the largest outdoor advertising companies in North America, with more than 315,000 displays across the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Lamar offers advertisers a variety of billboard, interstate logo and transit advertising formats, helping both local businesses and national brands reach broad audiences every day. In addition to its more traditional out-of-home inventory, Lamar is proud to offer its customers the largest network of digital billboards in the United States with over 2,000 displays. Please feel free to explore our website www.lamar.com or contact us for additional information.

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